Hands To Work

I ate at Clyde's!

 Have you ever heard of Clyde's?  Guess it's a restaurant chain and each one has it's own theme.  Last Friday night Chuck and I went with two friends (Kevin and Brenda) to the one in Broadlands called Willow Creek Farm.  Oh man, was it the coolest restaurant I've ever been to!  Above is a private dining room called The Samuel French room.  

  

This is the room where we ate.  I had a filet ( my standard restaurant fare), Chuck had the most beautiful crab cakes, we had appetizers and desert.  YUM!  If you live in the area, GO!

Happy Monday

Easter Weekend

 Chuck and I spent the weekend visiting his brother and family and his mom.  We stayed with MIL and she fed us and fed us and fed us.  I consumed more starch from Friday through Sunday than I usually have in six months.  I'm still full.  We had a marvelous time catching up on all the family gossip...and eating.  I felt ashamed that we hadn't been there since Christmas!

The above picture is a woman holding a dog and they live in Fairmont WV (where we were).  I wish I could entertain you with family photos but guess who forgot her camera.  This was the best I could do....a picture from the Fairmont Times/WV.  Hey, at least it's from the same town.  We can pretend that the blonde lady is my long lost cousin that happened to be in Fairmont for Easter and we hooked up at church discussing our love of dogs and WV. 

I'm stopping by the grocery store on my way home to pick up various items to make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner.  Elisabeth asked me to fix dinner for her and her new boyfriend this evening.  I have a problem saying no.  Even though I found myself digging to the back of the closet this morning trying to find a pair of jeans that would still fit as nothing is clean.  Well, nothing that still fits me is clean.  I'm not ready to tell you who the boyfriend is but after a week or so if all goes well then I will spill the beans. 

Did you see Alma's poston dyeing chenille trim?  Geesh, even when she's dumping Rit dye in a jar she takes the time to make it look sweet and wonderful.  Wonder if she ever forgets to wipe up toast crumbs from the counter or uses paper cups....  Anyway,  she then went on to make springerle cookies and the pictures were lovely and I've already checked out the link as I'm sure I need to make cookies like that as well!

Happy Monday!

Scenes from my drive every day

  I've been wanting to take some pictures of the beautiful country that I drive through every day on my way to and from work.  I snapped a quick picture through the car window the other day of down town .  I wanted to remember how awesome the flowering trees have been this year.  What I need to do is take the time to stop and snap pictures of some of the farm houses, stone fences and grazing horses. 

Chuck and I will be going to WV for the Easter weekend to see his family.  We've been the bad relatives...haven't been home since Christmas.  I'm looking forward to seeing family.  I'm hoping to catch my sister at home while we are there.  She's always on the run and we haven't connected in a while.  Playing phone tag a lot.

Did I mention that I have become absolutely obsessed with knitting?  I can't stop.  I learned to knit last year...the year before.  I can't remember.  Anyway, I found it very frustrating.  I'm not one to start with an easy project.  I want to dive right in which wasn't such a great idea.  I picked it up again this winter and I'm getting it now.  I've knitted several pairs of socks and am finishing up a sweet little coat for Miss Lily.  Unfortunately it won't be ready for Sunday but she's at her Daddy's all day anyway so I wouldn't get to see her in it.  I'm done with the knitting and am putting it together which isn't nearly as much fun as the knitting part!  I will show a picture when it's done.  I've learned quite a bit about how to improve during this project so therefore I'm not completely satisfied with the finished or should I say almost finished product.  I think I will make it again but change the yarn the second time around.  I used this and didn't really enjoy working with the cotton.  Here is how it should look when finished... I know that's a tiny picture but trust me, it's super cute.  My mom crocheted the flowers that go on the front. 

Speaking of super cute, this is super cuteness squared: 

Have a lovely weekend!

Moving On...

Go to Alma's blog right now for a dose of happyness!  I'm so glad that she is blogging.  And doing it regularly too, you know.  Like you're supposed to! 

Look at this piece of a new Loose Feathers....I can't wait to see the finished product.

 

Happy Wednesday!

Catching Up

  this is what I was thinking about almost 17 months ago....waiting for a sweet little baby to fill our home with adorableness, wonderful (and not so wonderful) smells, cries and coos.  And what a blessing she has been to us.  We were so worried about what might happen....all the What If thoughts crowding out happy thoughts.  And then she arrived. And grew and grew and filled our hearts with laughter and joy which pushed all the worry away.  She and her monmy moved out two weeks ago.  How quiet the house is now.  I don't see her every day.  Chuck and I are learning to live without anyone else in the house for the first time in 28 years.  I'm so lucky to have gotten to spend so much time with my Lily girl.  It's time for Elisabeth to step into that full time roll of mothering and she's doing beautifully.  I'm so proud of her. 

This is Maggie.  We lost her to old age and bad hips a little over a month ago.  She would be 13 this month.  I am so missing her.  She was unable to get up the stairs for the last year and stayed in the living or family rooms unless she had to go out.  I'm still listening for her tail to rustle against the carpet when I walk into the house.  Expecting to hear her whine with anticipation of a meal.  Watch her faithful friend Pansy (one of our cats) clean her face and sleep with her.  My heart is empty. 

So with all these changes I have some decisions to make.  What are we going to do with the extra bedrooms?  Should we take down the glow in the dark stars on the ceilings?  Should I start unbaby proofing the house?  What am I going to do about designing?  That's a hard one.  I've been a sluggish designer ever since I found out Elisabeth was expecting.  Now I'm working full time and driving an hour each way to work.  Do I have any creative juices left?  I'm not sure.  So I think I'm going to take some time to enjoy my time....stitch when I want, knit when I want, leave the house when I want.  Spend more time with my husband.  Revamp my office and finally have a sewing room that I don't have to share with guests, a computer, hundreds of charts and baby toys.  I am so happy when I get a note encouraging me to continue to design.  I think I will.  We'll see.  I have a few classes to teach this year but won't be taking on any new commitments for now.  I also will not be able to fill any orders other than those requested by shops and distributors. 

Thanks for hanging in there with me.  I'm such a lucky girl....I have too many friends to even count!  I'll continue on with the blog but I'm shrugging off the guilt and enjoying what comes next!